Citibank issued a 30 million/- (USD 23.8 thousand) grant to BRAC Tanzania in support of microfinance activities in the Vingunguti area of Tanzania, according to a report in Tanzania’s Daily News Online. This will be the second time in two years that Citibank has provided funds to BRAC Tanzania, the first time was in 2007 and the amount was 24 million/- (USD 19 thousand). The article reported that the CEO for Citibank Africa, Zdenek Turec and CEO of Citibank East Africa, Ade Ayeyemi presented the grant to BRAC Tanzania after visiting the Vingunuti area. The article in the Daily News did not provide further details, and there were no reports from either BRAC or Citibank on the grant.
BRAC, originally Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee was launched in 1972 through funding by former Shell Oil executive, Fazle Hasan Abed, initiator of the project. The first lending programmes were established in 1974 and microfinance is its core component of operations for alleviating poverty. It has issued USD 5 billion in micro-loans to nearly seven million borrowers. BRAC currently operates in nine Asian and African countries. The total assets of BRAC in 2007 stood at USD 619 million and its debt/equity ratio was 384.22 percent. BRAC Tanzania began operations in 2006 and at the end of 2007 had total assets of USD 12.1 million with a debt to equity ratio of 199.82 percent and a return on assets of 16.38 percent. BRAC Tanzania currently has over 57 thousand active borrowers throughout Tanzania. BRAC recently received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, details of which are in this MicroCapital story.
Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) is a multinational banking corporation founded in 1812 and headquartered in New York City that operates in more than 100 countries. Total assets as of September 30, 2008 were USD 2.1 trillion. As of November 24, 2008, its return on assets was -0.95 percent and its return on equity was -19.39 percent. Its total debt-equity ratio was 593.65 percent. Citibank Tanzania Ltd. was formally opened on May 8, 1995 as a fully owned subsidiary of Citibank N.A
By Lori Curtis, Research Assistant
Additional Resources:
Citigroup: “Home” “Citibank Tanzania”
Daily News Online: “Citibank grants 30m/- to microlending operations”
MicroCapital Story: “BRAC Receives US$ 1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize”
MIX Market: “BRAC Profile” “BRAC Tanzania Profile“
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